PITTSBURGH — With a handful of teammates watching and laughing, Miguel Tejada pantomimed an awkward swing. He lunged forward, almost tripping. Then he lifted his left hand, tugged at his forehead and shook his head as if bewildered by a pitch.

Then Tejada steps back to his imaginary plate, digs in and tells the group, “When that pitcher throws that pitch again, bam. You have to make them think they fool you sometimes to set them up so they’ll try to throw that pitch again.”

“You meet him and after you’ve knowing him for a week or so you feel like he’s been a friend for 10 years,” Astros owner Drayton McLane said. “He makes you feel like you’re his special friend. With him, this team’s going to play well this season. We’re going through a difficult time, but we’ll get on top of that.”

Carrying his load

In difficult times, like the Astros’ seven-game losing streak, Tejada is trying to hit the club out of its struggles and hold it together by the strength of his personality.

“Out of nine years I’ve been here, he’s one of my all-time favorite teammates,” Roy Oswalt said of Tejada. “He’s one of the best teammates I’ve had. He’s a good guy to have in the clubhouse, brings energy on and off the field.”

The key to survival in the majors doesn’t lie merely on the field, so Tejada has preached about mental toughness.

With nothing more than a grammar school education, the shortstop has shown tremendous command of baseball psychology.

He views himself first and foremost as a baseball player, and he understood that he entered the 2009 season with much to prove after pleading guilty to lying to congressional investigators. He has vowed to reward McLane, general manager Ed Wade and Astros fans for their support by showing he can still hit.

“Not only is he crushing everything, he plays good defense,” Pence said. “He’s fun to be around. He’s just a guy who picks you up. He’s funny and just a great guy all around. But the way he’s hitting is incredible.”

On a team-high 11-game hitting streak, Tejada is hitting .346 with five home runs and 26 RBIs. He also is tied with the Tampa Bay Rays’ Jason Bartlett for the most three-hit games in baseball with 10.

“I’ve always been a baseball player,” Tejada said. “I respect this game. I’ve played it hard and I love it. I want people to understand that I never tried to embarrass the game.

“I thank the fans for accepting that I made a mistake, I’ve apologized and I’m moving forward.”

Tejada is always encouraging teammates, praising them with his imaginary spotlight after great plays or hitting them with a wicked zinger.

As outgoing as ever

Many wondered how Tejada would respond after his tearful apology in February after pleading guilty.

Just in case his teammates thought he would retreat, Pence learned otherwise.

“He’s a guy that came to me in spring training and talked to me for a while on how you handle yourself and how we’re role models and leaders and we’re held to different standards,” Pence said. “That meant a lot to me for him to go out of his way and talk to me to make sure off the field to make sacrifices for the good of the team and everything we represent in baseball.”

Pence is hitting a team-high .352, living up to the potential Tejada didn’t want to see undermined by a singles lifestyle that can lead a younger player to lose focus.